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Rumors have been swirling around Google’s highly secretive “Project Tungsten”, a media streaming device which Google recently filed an application with the FCC for permission to test outside of the lab. Very limited knowledge of the device suggests that it is a kind of Android Powered all-compassing home entertainment device which acts as a hub to rally TV, internet, and “other home electronics equipment”, and it will be controlled by either smart phone or tablet via a blue-tooth connection. With the recent Google-Motorola acquisition, it is also rumored that Motorola will be the manufacturer.
While still quite vague on details of functionality, I imagine Project Tungsten to be the ultimate Google TV: a device which acts as a lighting rod for all media-streaming efforts, siphoning music, television, radio and all forms of internet-based offerings (podcasts, YouTube videos, Hulu Television shows, sports, etc.) all into one place. Just imagine being able to turn on your hyper-evolved Google TV and browse for anything and everything entertainment related with literally a single search.
With whispers surrounding Project Tungsten getting louder, we could know details very soon. Will the project be a new direction for Google TV, or will it be something else entirely? It is rumored for release this year, so stay tuned as more informations surfaces.
[via Mashable]
In keeping with their promise to release more frequent Google TV updates, Google introduced Honeycomb 3.2 last week. The new software, currently for Sony devices only with the Revue soon to follow, provides the following improvements:
- It supports hardware acceleration, making apps with animation effects move faster
- It supports HTTP live streaming which will help with HTML5 video and make local media streaming through apps work
- Improvements to the way Google TV identifies channels will make it easier for app developers to use their own EPGs
- Chrome is getting a boost
This update will likely be one of many before the arrival of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which is rumored to occur before the end of the year. Stay tuned to see what Google rolls out throughout the next year of Google TV.
[via GigaOm]
We sure think Google TV is great, but is it yet capable of total TV domination? Google chairman Eric Schmidt sure thinks so. In a bold statement during an interview at Le Web conference in France, Schmidt made the following statement:
“We’ve just released version two, and by the summer of 2012, the majority of televisions you see in the television stores here will have Google TV embedded in it.”
Well, considering the Honeycomb update came about 4 months late (with my Revue having just been updated today, hooray!), and Logitech having just declined to pump out new product, that’s a pretty hearty prediction (or, is it an admission?). Is version 2 so powerful that it will completely change the fate of Google TV in less than a year? Will more hardware developers and consumers alike welcome Google TV into their sets? And what’s got Google feeling this cocky so early on in round two? Stay tuned to see what Google’s got up its sleeve, and to those of you who only very recently got Honeycomb, enjoy!
[via AdroidOS.in]
Update: Perhaps they read our post, but the folks at Logitech’s PR firm got back to us, although their lips are remaining sealed at this point. This post is obviously speculation, but we believe it is still very much warranted. Stay tuned.
We all know that Google TV hasn’t proven quite the cash cow that it’s creators and contributors had hoped, and as everything slows down further with the delayed release of Honeycomb and Google TV 2.0, we are starting to wonder if Logitech could be cutting their losses and pulling out of the Google TV game. We recently reached out to some Logitech Revue reps in regards to snagging some giveaway goodies for our readers and instead we were greeted with silence. That, paired with the price slashes that the Revue experienced this past year and the lack of Revue-focused hype for Google TV 2.0, has us wondering where the Logitech love is at. We’ve seen some software update leaks for the Revue, but haven’t heard any buzz about new and improved hardware, and while Sony shows off what’s soon to come, Logitech seems to be slinking into the background. Could it be that Logitech is no longer factoring Google TV into it’s future?
Tell me, Google TV fans, at what point am I compromising my journalistic integrity by reporting too many rumors? Well, in the spirit of throwing integrity to the wind, I’ve got more speculation as to when Google TV 2.0 and the Honeycomb update will finally drop! According to Scott Webster of Android Guys its finally clear that 2.0 is coming in full form on November 8th, and will be unveiled at Streaming Media West 2011, an annual event that encompasses everything streaming-media related (in case you couldn’t deduce that from the title).
From whence did this speculation spring, you ask? Well, from the extraordinarily vague comments that Donagh O’Malley made a few weeks ago, the fact that O’Malley will be speaking at the November 8th event, and from the fact that the “final” add-on for the Android SDK was recently released. If you ask me, I’d say one of Android Guys‘ readers was more accurate when he assessed, “So – we’re lookin’ at around Easter then..?”. Take it or leave it, this rumor isn’t worth much until it happens.
[via AndroidGuys]
Yet another ETA on the official release date of Google TV 2.0, this one straight from Google’s mouth. At the Connected TV Panel, MIPCOM 2011, Google TV Director of Content Donagh O’Malley gave very specific details about precisely when Honeycomb will drop:
What I can tell you about what’s coming up with Google TV, is version two is about to launch probably within the next three or four weeks.
Well, thank you for nailing that down sir. Given how closely Google has stuck to its previous Google TV release date announcements, I’d say that it’s probably best not to hold our breaths. We’ll see Honeycomb when we see it, and you’ll be sure to see lots of it right here when that happens.
[via gnarl'd]
It looks like we may be getting closer to the official Honeycomb release date (perhaps the end of September, as Logitech sources have told us), as Sony is finally showing off it’s new Google TV hardware which sports a near-release ready version of Honeycomb. Word is that there still isn’t much to see, but alas they can’t have kept us waiting ALL summer for nothing. Keeping our fingers crossed that the projected end of summer release of Honeycomb is being pushed to the limit with good reason, we’ll wait for the final version to pass any judgements.
[via ubergizmo]
Reports are coming in that the much anticipated Google TV Honeycomb update will begin an OTA update on Monday, August 29th. The update, which promises both speed and aesthetic improvements, has received mixed early reviews for being pretty to look at but not bringing much to the table in terms of added functionality. The update will also usher in the era of apps on Google TV, but both the quality and quantity of apps that will be available has yet to be determined.
I must repeat the fact that these are anonymous reports, and that we have yet to confirm the release date with our sources at Google and Logitech. We’re checking in with the motherships, so be sure to check back for updates.
Update: Logitech is saying end of September, so treat this rumor for what it is: a rumor.
Way back in August, we wrote about the multiple benefits of an ARM powered Google TV device, and in November it was reported that Google and ARM were holding talks over such a venture. Reports are coming in that an ARM powered Google TV device is coming very soon, although no specifics about pricing, hardware specs, or a release date are known at this time.
An ARM powered Google TV device would be cheaper, and would simply make more sense for developers given the fact that the vast majority of Android phones run on ARM chips. We spoke with ARM at CES, and they were unwilling to make any kind of official statement at this time. However, I am still fairly confident that we will see this come to light sometime in 2011, so stay tuned.
[via ARMDevices]
Earlier today we told you that Vizio has formally announced their Google TV offerings a couple days before CES, which came via press release. We now know that the company will be releasing Google TV powered HDTVs and Blu-ray players, but there is something else that struck me about the press release that will be very exciting if true. The image above was included in the press release, which clearly shows one of their Google TV powered HDTVs with a lot more apps than the Google TV we know today.
It is entirely possible that this is just a mockup image meant to generate some buzz and excitement about the product, or perhaps this is what they intend the interface to look like once the Market is released sometime this year. However, with Vizio supposedly planning to show off their new device(s) at CES, perhaps we will get to see an early build of the next version of Google TV featuring the Android Market. We will be there beginning on Wednesday to bring you all the latest and greatest, and we will certainly do our best to get a sneak peak at the new goods! Stay tuned.
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